The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says thank you to Australian farmers, their support for the 2005-06 Agricultural Census was the best in living memory.

Well over 90% of the Census questionnaires, which were sent out to 190,000 Australian businesses, have been completed and returned.

The ABS gratefully acknowledges the support of the farming community.

Gemma Van Halderen, head of the ABS's Agriculture Program said: "We know resources on the land are stretched to the limit, so it's great to see that farmers can still take the time to provide the ABS with information that's essential to understanding Australian agriculture."

"Their response has been excellent, farmers really understand the importance of the Ag Census and know how much industry and government rely on accurate information on Australia's agricultural industry."

Agricultural Census data measures production in all agricultural industries, and supports the formulation and monitoring of agriculture policy. It is used by decision makers involved in producing, supplying, marketing and trading agricultural commodities. The Agricultural Census is held every five years.

As well, the 2005-06 Agricultural Census data will help inform natural resource policy relating to agriculture and assist the monitoring of social issues affecting rural communities. Precise property location details, which were collected for the first time this year, will be particularly helpful for users of resource management and water data to obtain output by more flexible and relevant geographic regions.

For farm businesses which received an Agricultural Census form but have not yet returned it - it's still not too late. Contact the ABS on 1800 647 011.

With most of the Census forms now in, data processing is underway. The ABS expects to release the first results in late February next year. The first results will contain state/territory totals of principal commodities and will be freely available on the ABS web site. More detailed information will be released during the course of 2007.

Unless otherwise noted, content on this website is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia Licence together with any terms, conditions and exclusions as set out in the website Copyright notice. For permission to do anything beyond the scope of this licence and copyright terms contact us.